Fence weaving machine



Feb. 23, 1932. H. 1. MATTSON 1,845,685

FENCE WEAVING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 War/ 91 Wazfson Feb. 23, 1932. H. l. 'MATTSON 1,846,685

\ FENCE WEAVING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 23, 1932.

H. l. MATTSON 1346,685

FENCE WEAVING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 26, 1930 Feb. 23, 1932. H. l. MATTSON FENCE WEAVING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1930, 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 five/#0)".- I Marry 1 Mia $9012.

Whfmngya Patented Feb. 23, 1932 inure STATES PATENT oFFIcE I HARRY LMAT'ISON, OF JULIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TMATTSON WIRE AND MANU- FAOTURING 100., INCL OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS I Y FENCE WEAVING MACHINE Application filed April 26,

My invention relates to fence making machines and more particularly to high speed automatic machines by which combined wood and wire fencing is made by weaving wooden pickets between spaced pairs of steel wires, each pair of wires being twisted together between adjacent pickets.

In fences of this type, galvanized or spelter covered wires are preferably used to prevent rust, and the pickets are held securely in alignment by twisting each pair of wires between the pickets and in opposite directions in each alternate space.

So-called twister-heads are used, through which the wire is fed, and which are intermittently revolved in opposite directions, to produce a twist of a plurality of turns between each pair of pickets, the turns in alternate twists being in opposite directions. The twister-heads are rotated by means of a longitudinally movable rack which engages suitable pinions on the twister-head shafts. It is necessary that there should be a comparatively long rest period between each consecutive twisting operation, in order that a new picket may be inserted in the twisterheads and pushed outwardly between thewires and against the previously made twists, sothat the succeeding twist may be formed.

Heretofore, the abrupt starting and stopping of the rack and cooperating twisterheads has made it practically impossible to produce uniform turns of wire in the twists when the machine is operated at high speed, and the abrupt bending of the wire tends to fracture the spelter or galvanized covering, permitting moisture to. enter and reduce inaterially the efliciency and durability of the fence.

The tendency of the wire to untwist and the abrupt stopping of the movement of the rack cause the twister-heads to rebound and turn backward slightly and prevent the succeeding picket from entering the twisterheads unless the machine is operatedat a comparatively slow speed which seriously limits production.

In my invention I have'successfully over come the abovementioned objections and have been able to increase production sub- 1930. Serial No. 447,496.

stantially fifty per cent from a single machine, and the speed of the machine is'apparently limited only y the ability of the operator to feed pickets thereto. a 7

My invention contemplates a machine which may be operated at relativelyhigh speed and in which there will be no abrupt starting and stopping of the twister-heads, but in which there will be a gradual, although rapidacceleration and deceleration of the moving parts. i

A further desirable feature is the production of uniform twists with less abrupt turns in the wire than previously obtained with consequent less danger of fracturing the covering, and an even distribution of the turns of wire over agreater length of twist than previously obtained.

I have also produced a machine of comparatively few operating parts and in which substantially all of the operations are controlled'from a single source.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and appended claims. 7

In the drawings:

Figurel is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention, a portion of the frame being broken away to more fully illustrate the twister-head operating mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the manual and automatic controlling means;

a is a fragmentary view of the clutch and transmission mechanism, a portion being broken away to better illustratethe construction; 7

Fig. is a fragmentary rear view, partially in section, illustrating the picket feeding mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a side view of one of the twisterheads and associated pickets and wires.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the embodiment shown includes a frame comprising end members 1,, secured together by angle bars 2,3 and 4- (Fig. 2) A plurality of spaced twister-head shafts 5 are transversely mounted in bearings 6 and 7 on the angle bars 3 and 4, respectively. Each shaft 5 is provided with a pinion 8 secured thereto and meshing with a longitudinally movable rack 9. The rack is secured to a cross-head 10 which is slidably mounted in ways 11, the latter bein secured to the frame cross bars 2 and 3, Figs. 1 and 2. Downwardly extending spaced rollers 12 are mounted on the crosshead 10. A barrel cam 13 is secured to the drive shaft 14 which is mounted in suitable bearings in the frame and in parallel relation to the rack 9.

The cam 13 is engaged between the rollers 12 and is so designed that each revolution of the cam converts the rotary motion into an intermittent reciprocating motion of the rack 9. The rest periods of the rack at each end of the stroke are comparatively long, with a rapidly increasing acceleration and deceleration at the beginning and ending, respectively, of each stroke of the rack. The pitch of the cam, in the present device, is such that the twister-heads are rotated two and onehalf times in one direction during the forward stroke of the rack and two and one-half times in the opposite direction during the return stroke, but it will be understood that the machine may be modified to provide any desired number of turns.

The above construction tends to reduce vibration and prevent rebound of the rack and twister-head shafts when the machine is operated at high speed. The rapid acceleration and decelerat on of the rack and associated parts obviate the necessity for the use of bumpers or similar devices.

The shaft 14 and associated cam 13 are driven at a constant speed through a transmission means which will be later described, and during each rest period of the rack, a picket 15 s inserted in aligned slots 16 in the twister-heads 17, the latter forming extensions of the shafts 5. Suitable wires 18 are guided around loose guide pulleys 19 on a shaft 20 and are threaded through the passages 21, the wires passing through the twister-heads on each side of the picket-receiving slot, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. Arms 22 are connected together by the bar 23 and secured to a rock shaft 24 (Figs. 2 and 5) and extend to a point adjacent the twister-heads and behind the picket inserted therein. Links 25 are secured to the outer arms 22 and are provided with rollers 26 engaging cams 27 se cured to the shaft 14. The lin s 25 are supported in operative posit on by arms 28 secured to a rock shaft 29. The cams 27 are arranged to move the arms 22 to the position, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, during the rest period and after a picket has been inserted.

The just-described movement of the arms 22 moves the picket and feeds the wires which are engaged thereby a distance corresponding to the width of the pickets and the desired space therebetween.

The previousl y-nade fence passes over the sprockets 30, under the roller 31, and is wound on a suitable reel 32, which latter may be driven from any suitable source, such as a sprocket 33 on the shaft 14.

The arms 22 remain in the advanced position and hold the picket firmly during the succeeding twisting operation, which causes the pickets to be securely gripped and accurately spaced by the wire. After the'twist has been formed and at the beginn ng of the next rest period, the arms are returned to the original position by the springs 22a, another picket is inserted and the operation is repeated, alternate twists being in opposite directions.

The drive shaft 14 is driven from a suitable power source by means of a pulley 34, which is rotatably mounted on a stationary bearing member 35 secured to the frame. The pulley forms the driving member of a speed reducing planetary transmission, the latter comprising a sun gear 36 (Fig. 4) secured to the member 35, planet gears 37 and 38, secured together and mounted in the driving pulley 34, and a driven gear 39 cured to a loosely mounted clutch driving member 40 of a clutch 41. A driven clutch member 42 is slidably secured to the shaft 14 by a spline 43.

The clutch may be manually controlled by means of handles 44 and 45 (Figs. 1 and 3) which are positioned adjacent the feeding end of the machine and within convenient reach of the operator. The clutch may be engaged by means of the handle or lever 44 which is pivoted at on the frame. A rod 51 is slidably mounted in the frame and connected to a lever 52 pivoted at 53 on a bracket 54. The lever is operably engaged in slot 55 in the slidable clutch driven member 42, so that when the handle lever 44 is operated to move the rod 51 against the tension of a spring 51a, by engagement with an adjustable stop 56, the clutch will be moved to engaged position as shown. At the same time a retaining iatch 57, controlled by a spring 58, will engage behind a downwardly extending lug 59 on the rod 51 and hold the clutch in engagement. The latch 57 is pivoted on the bracket 60 and may be released at any time bv the handle 45 on the rod 61, which latter is connected to a clownwardly extending arm of the latch.

In order to prevent the operation of the machine when there is no picket therein or when it has been improperly inserted by an automatic feeding means, which will be later described, a lever 62 is pivoted on a bracket 63 and secured to the latch 57 by a flexible connection 64. The flexible connection allows the manual release of the latch while the lever 62 is in the raised position illustrated in Fig. 3. A cam engages a roller 66 on the lever 62 and normally holds the lever in raised position against the tension of the spring 67 during the intervals between the insertion of the pickets.

A bracket 68 is arranged to guide the pickets against a stop 69 and under a roller 7 O, which latter is secured to a bell crank latch 71 pivoted at 72 and controlled by the tension of a spring 73. The downwardly extending arm of the lever 71 includes a latch portion 74, and during the time that the roll er is held in raised position by the picket 15 the latch portion 74 will retain the lever 62 in raised position and prevent the release of the latch and the consequent stopping of the machine while. the cut-away portion of the cam 65 passes the roller 66.

It will be evident that if no picket is in-- serted in the machine, the latch lever 71 will be moved to release'the lever 62 and its associated latch 57 when the cut-away portion of the cam 65 is in alignment with the roller 66, and the clutch will be released and the machine stopped until again started by the insertion of a picket and the operation of the hand lever 44.

In order to feed the pickets into the ma chine, a plurality of discs 75, 76 and 77 are secured to shafts 78, 79 and 80, respectively, and mounted in alignment with the slots 16 in the twister-heads. The discs and 76 have serrated edges (Figs. 1 and 5) for engaging and driving the pickets longitudinally through the slots 16 and into engagement with the stop bracket 68. All of the discs are constantly driven at a comparatively high speed from a motor 81, through a chain 82, sprockets 83 and chains 84.

The twister-head slots 16 are provided with arcuate surfaces to allow the easy entrance of the pickets which are guided laterally by latch members 85 on the brackets 86. The latches are normally held in position by springs 87, the latter allowing the picket to be freely moved laterally during the further operation of the machine.

A table 88 is arranged to receive the pickets and on which they are moved laterally,

one by one, to a position under the disc 7 5, as

shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5. In prac tice, the pickets are moved to this position by a suitable conveyor, not shown.

A bell crank lever 89 is pivoted at 90 and provided with a picket-engaging roller 91, and a roller 92 engaging a disc cam 93 secured to the drive shaft 14 and held engaged therewith by a spring 94. During the rest period of the twister-heads, the cam 93 causes the picket-engaging roller 91 to raise and press the picket 16 against the serrated edge of the revolving disc 75 and the picket will be rapidly driven forward under the second serrated disc 76 against which it is snugly held by a roller 95 on a lever96, the

- ressulre of .the roller 95 being'controlled by a. spring. 97.

- iThe discs75.,76 and 77 'move the pickets quickly into the position-shown in Fig. 5, the contacting portion of the disc 77 being smooth to allow the pickets to be. easily moved vlaterally therefrom.

-p- Having described'my invention, what I claim and desire tojsecure by Letters Pat- -ent.is:

1. A fence weaving machine comprising means for feeding pickets and wires thereto,-means for twisting a" plurality of turns of wire betweeneach pair of pickets', means for preventing the operation of the twisting means when no picket is fed completely into the machine, intermittently operable means for feeding said pickets consecutively away from said twistingmeans, a single driving means-for controlling the operation of all of saidmeans, and means for manually control ling the operation of said drlvemeans. 2. A- fence weaving machine comprlsmg means for feeding pickets and wires thereto,

means for twistinga plurality'of turns of wireibetween each pair of pickets, meansfor preventing the. operation of the twisting means when no picket is fed into the machine, intermittently operable means for feeding said pickets away from said twisting means, and a single driving means for controlling the operation of all of said means, said last means including a plurality of cam surfaces.

3. A fence weaving machine comprising? means for feeding pickets and wires thereto, means for twisting a plurality of turns of wire between each pair of pickets, means for preventing the operation of the twisting means when no picket is fed into the machine, 7

intermittently operable means for feeding said pickets consecutively away from said twisting means, a single driving means for controlling the operation of all of said means,

said last means including a plurality of cam and a single driving means for synchronizing the operation of all of said means.

5. In a machine of the character described, a plurality of parallel twister shafts having twister heads thereon, mechanism for rotating said shafts comprising pinions on said shafts, an oscillatable rack engaging said pinions, a drive shaft parallel with said rack,

a cam on said shaft, a follower on said rack secutively away from said twisting means,

and engaging said cam, said cam being arranged to cause a rapid acceleration of sald rack from rest to maximum speed, a comparatively long period of uniform maximum speed and a rapid deceleration from maximum to rest.

6. In a machine of the character described, a plurality of parallel twister shafts, mechanism for rotating said shafts comprising pinions on said shafts, an oscillatable rack meshing with said pinions, a cam adjacent said rack and rotatable in a direction transverse to the movement of said rack, follower means on said rack and continuously engaging said cam, said mechanism being arranged to cause a rapid acceleration of said twister heads from rest to maximum speed, a compartively long period of uniform maximum speed and a rapid deceleration from maximum to rest.

7 In a machine of the character described, a plurality of parallel twister shafts having slotted twister heads thereon, means for feeding pickets through said slots, means between said heads for guiding said pickets through said slots, said guides being yieldable to allow said pickets to be moved transversely out of said slots, and automatic means for moving said pickets transversely.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

HARRY I. MATTSON. 

